New to site - Is Florida an easy place to Exchange?

[hoots_00]

I am new to this website and I have a question about how easy it is to exchange weeks in Florida. My husband and I have a mutual friend who would like to sign over his deed to a timeshare in Florida called the Fairfield Fort Lauderdale at Santa Barbara Resort and Yacht Club. We would probably use it on and off but would probably like to trade weeks and go other places most of the time. We are new to the whole idea of time-shares but have used some of our friends in the past and have absolutely loved them. Our biggest concern is that it wouldn't trade very easily and we would be stuck with the same place all of the time. Any insight about this would be great.
The place we may get is a one bedroom with a sleeper sofa on the ocean.
Thanks

 

[ausman]

I think the general advice would be not to buy and read this Group until you had gained enought knowledge to answer your own questions.

Do you know what your mutual friend what would like to sign over, a fixed week, where does it fall, perhaps a floating week, where do they fall. Since it is a Fairfield resort could Fairfield points be involved, another set of possibilities.

Why does your mutual friend (have I said that is strange expression?) want to sign over his deed. ? What obligations are you assuming.

Until you can answer all questions above, and many more, you should delay the decision.

 

[hoots_00]

It is a fixed week (39) and they don't know anything about points. They are giving it to us because their getting older and more medical problems don't allow them to travel as much as they used to. They had 3 timeshares and are trying to get down to only one. They told us it is a lifetime deed for the property and our only obligations are the yearly dues/taxes/maintanence fees that come along with it.

 

[SOS8260456]

Santa Barbara resort suffered major structural damage during Hurrican Wilma and will be closed most if not all of 2006. Santa Barbara had a special assessment last year. While insurance may cover all the damamge costs, there is probably a chance of another special assessment. Also, it is my understanding that fixed week owners must pay the 2006 maintenance fees even though they will NOT be getting the use of their week.

Lisa

 

[Carolinian]

Some parts of Florida have much better supply/demand factors than others, allowing them to trade much better. Places like Key West or Sanibel, with very limited supply and high demand would be the better traders. Orlando, with a very high demand but cursed with a huge supply, would not trade as well. Ft. Lauderdale would be somewhere in between.

The other factor to consider is time of year. Week 39 is during the height of hurricane season, which is low tourist season in that part of the world.

A good tool to determine the better months to own for trading is the Availibility tables in the European version of the RCI directory (which I have suggested would be something worth posting on the TUG advise section) which rates each month in a resort area on a 1 (limited availibility / very highly demanded) to 4 (very good availiblity) scale. The lower the number, of course, the better it should trade. While Florida is not broken down into subregions, this table shows that both September and October are rated a ''4'' for the state of FLorida. The best months in Florida are the two that rate a ''1'' - February and March.

 

[JLB]

Yes, mostly.

No, sometimes.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13540